Abraham Lincoln is iconic. There’s no denying it. In times of unrest and uncertainty, he worked to keep the nation together, fighting when secession took place. A quiet man who thought things through before speaking, Lincoln is a man we can learn lessons from.

A little background on my history with Lincoln…From a young age, I’ve always been fascinated by good ole’ Honest Abe (he’s in my top 5 favorite presidents). In fact, I have a bobble head of him that my dad brought me from his trip to the capital. I did a book report on him in 3rd grade, and tried to do another in the 4th (my mom told me I needed to broaden my horizons, so I went with Ben Franklin). Looking back, my fascination with Lincoln is probably the beginning of my love for American History.

Now…lets get to the quote.

In life, the only way we can go is forward. There’s no going back. As scary as it sounds, we can’t change anything we’ve already done or said. The past is useless except for the fact that we can learn from it. Use it as an example of what worked, what didn’t, what we need to repeat, and what we need to avoid. I guess that’s why I love history so much…you can always learn from it.

As Lincoln said, despite his slow pace, he always walked forward. We can take this as a lesson similar to that in the old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. No matter how slow we develop or grow, whether in skill, personality, or progress, the only way to move is forward. It takes time to build a solid foundation, which is detrimental to continuing growing the structure.

Once a thing is finished, it’s hard to go back and re-do it. Almost impossible even. Lincoln presided over the nation in times of Civil War…it was hard to go backwards. With a warring nation, he needed to continue moving forward in-order to heal the nation. He had no chance of a do-over. It was one shot. Get it right or get out of office.

While we aren’t president of a fractured nation, we can take this into our own lives at a smaller scale. Lincoln called all the shots of the union. We call all the shots of our own lives. Like Lincoln, we don’t get any do-overs. This one life is all we have, so we HAVE to continue moving forward. You don’t want to waste time dwelling in what could have been or what you would have done differently. As I said earlier, only look back to learn. Lessons come from history, opportunity comes with the future. While it is unknown, you won’t figure it our until you get there. So keep moving forward…it’s the only way to go.

There are so many influences out there in the world. Family, friends, celebrities, books, movies, events, politicians, the list goes on and on. So many of us get caught up in stereotypes and stigmas that we tend to lose ourselves along the way of life.

I relate to this quote on an extremely personal level as I’m an introvert, yet as I’m growing older, I can argue that I’m growing into more of an ambivert. In fact, if you ask my father, he would call me a hermit (honestly…he does it very frequently). That’s not the reason why I relate to this quote though. There’s a deeper understanding of this quote that is extremely important in our journeys though life.

As I mentioned earlier, there are so many factors that can persuade people’s character and decisions. Naturally, there are two responses that sort people into two distinct groups: leaders and followers. While both occur automatically, you can teach the ability to go against the flow of others.

Followers get caught up in the trends and stereotypes of the world. Leaders create their own paths. Followers let others represent them. Leaders refuse to let their opinions go unheard. Followers get lost along the way. Leaders are out there creating the way. The biggest difference between the two? Leaders know exactly who they are and what they stand for while followers simply go with whatever seems the most convenient at the time.

How does one achieve this leader life? By being alone.

First of all, being alone is extremely important in our mental health. Everyone needs time away from the loud voices of our society in-order to form their own voice, and in some cases, even learn to recognize that they have the ability to form their own voice. We tend to forget that we have the pen to our own stories, not the world.

Secondly, the Bible teachers that God made everyone their own distinct character, not one duplicate roaming the earth. With his own hands, God created each and everyone of us as unique individuals. He spent time forming each and everyone of us, not finishing until we are perfect in his own eyes. Why throw it away? Why let that go to waste?

As a society, we get so caught up in everyone else that we forget this. We forget the importance of being ourselves. Growing older, going on the journey of getting ready to apply to college, I realize that our character only gets more crucial as life goes on, more detrimental as we continue to grow and build relationships.

YOUR character is what makes impressions. YOUR personality is what builds relationships. YOUR feelings are what drives your decisions. And most importantly…YOUR decisions are what dictate that rest of YOUR life.

Not once did the paragraph above mention an US or WE. Only YOU. In life that’s it. That’s all you are guaranteed. You are the only person who controls your life. Spend the time early on focusing and building yourself in-order to prevent a rude awakening later on when you reach the real world. You’ll find that the only person you can count on is yourself, so you better build yourself a good support system. It’s all you have.

Welcome to Word Wednesday! I’m so excited to start this new series! As a writer, words have always been a fascination of mine. Stereotypical? Yes, but there is so much that words are capable of! Words can describe anything and when strung together, words can produce some of the most beautiful and thought provoking statements. So, enough of me ranting about words…let’s dive into it!

What better place to start than with my favorite Bible verse? While it isn’t a “normal” verse for one’s favorite, Colossians 4:6 holds a special place in my heart. I came across this verse about 2 years ago when it popped up in my daily devotional, but despite my short time knowing it, Colossians 4:6 quickly claimed its spot as my favorite.

Every time I read this verse, a certain phrase from my childhood always pops into my head. My mother always told me, despite how cruel the world can be, “it doesn’t cost a penny to be kind.” Now, navigating the social norms of middle and high school, kindness isn’t necessarily always the first thought, especially with teenagers. I will admit, I have been guilty of this, more so on the days where from the moment I wake up, it seems like everything will go wrong.

Now, as I have spent the past year growing and learning, figuring out what is and isn’t important in life, this verse seems to be a constant. When I first started this blog, one of my missions was to spread my knowledge of not just living with grace but living through it. I earlier defined grace two ways:

1: simple elegance or refinement; an attractively polite manner of behaving

2: the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings

Now, the first definition seems pretty, well…defined. With definition 1, one may picture Audrey Hepburn with her poise and mannerisms on our screens. Or perhaps you picture Princess Diana and her kind spirit and soft heart that touched many souls. Definition 1 is the easiest of the two, but definition 2 holds more freedom and with more freedom comes more challenge.

In today’s world, it’s easy to forget about the feelings of others, especially as we view society as a dog eats dog world. Yet, that’s where the salt comes in. Being kind and forgiving can cause one to be seen as a pushover or soft, yet when armed with salt, you still maintain that edge of protection and defense. Not everyone will approach the world with grace, choosing to carry more salt than normal. Holding more power and influence, grace should always be your first defense, yet salt should always be carried in case of emergency and used sparingly. The damage of salt is immediate and almost always permanent. Use it with caution and as a last resort.

In summary…be kind. You never know when someone or something could come up later in life. You don’t want any burnt bridges to stop your journey. The path of life is challenging as it is, so why not use your influence to keep it as clean and smooth as possible?